Paper-clip dispensers of the aforementioned type have been provided heretofore in the form of a receptacle or cup having a magnet disposed along its upper ring or mouth so that paper clips adhere to the magnetic surface and project upwardly through the mouth, enabling them to be gripped individually and withdrawn from the dispenser.
In order to permit the paper clips at the bottom of the cup to adhere to the magnetic surface after the cup has been partly emptied and the transfer of magnetic force from paper clips in contact with the magnet to paper clips therebelow is no longer effective, it is necessary for the user to reach into or tilt the cup to bring the remaining paper clips into a position in which they can be retained by the magnet. This arrangement is obviously inconvenient.
In another arrangement of the prior art, the magnet is formed at the upper end of a stem fixed in the receptacle and projecting above the opening or mouth thereof. In this embodiment the paper clips adhere to the stem and also can be removed one at a time. This system has the same disadvantage as the first-mentioned system in that when the supply of paper clips is partly depleted it is difficult to entrain additional paper clips into the region of the magnet without, for example, tilting the cup or attempting to reach into the latter.
In both cases it is necessary to shake or otherwise cause the paper clips to be raised to the magnetic surface.
Still another dispenser having the same disadvantage comprises a magnetic disk carried on a telescoping central member and biased by a spring upwardly away from the cup. The individual paper clips depend from the magnetic disk above the opening of the cup and can be removed individually. In order to enable the paper clips at the bottom of the cup to reach the magnet, the latter is pressed toward the mouth of the cup and the device is shaken.
In all of the embodiments of the prior art described, the paper clips must be brought to the magnetic surface by inconvenient manipulations or other procedures which are unsatisfactory.